by Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo hopes that her dip in the Seine will convince Parisians skeptical about the swimmability of the river, she announced on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Georges-Vallerey swimming pool, in the 20th district.
“It’s going to be a great moment. I think that once this exercise is done, Parisians will be convinced that the Seine is a river that we take care of,” Anne Hidalgo told the press.
“I tell you: Yes, we are going to swim. Yes, we are going to do it. We are working on it around Olympic week to prepare for this dive which will be done at Bras Marie,” she said. .
The councilor announced in January his desire to dive into the Seine before specifying to Reuters in March that he was aiming for the Olympic and Paralympic day of June 23.
“We are going to take the weather into account so we are giving ourselves a bit of a window to have a plan B in the event of a big storm on the big day,” she said.
During the inauguration of the athletes’ village in February, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron also promised to swim in the Seine.
“I invited him,” said Anne Hidalgo. “There will be great surprises for those who come to dive with us.”
Last year, Pierre Rabadan, his deputy in charge of sport, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Seine, took a swim.
“Pierre has already accomplished the feat of jumping into the Seine, he is still alive,” said the mayor of Paris.
“Already, last year, even before all the infrastructure was delivered, the Seine was swimmable for 70% of its summer time.”
During the Paris Olympic Games, from July 26 to August 11, the Seine will host the triathlon and marathon swimming events.
It must be open to swimming for the general public from summer 2025.
(Reporting by Julien Prétot, written by Vincent Daheron, edited by Kate Entringer)
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